Speeches by Ranger.

“Su, do you see the challenges as different in Wales and England?”

“Hugh, is there a noticeable difference in the challenges in England and Wales, or are they pretty much the same across the board?”

“Finally, are the current recruitment practices equipping staff in prison and probation services in Wales with the necessary skills to meet the challenges that you have just outlined, or do we need to see changes in those?”

“Yes; that is a question we will come back to. Su McConnel, do you have anything to add on the recruitment side of things?”

“Mr Jones, do you have anything to add on the recruitment challenges, particularly in Wales?”

“Thank you very much. That is interesting.”

“Thank you both for coming. I want to expand a bit on what you have already touched on. How are prisons in Wales performing when compared with equivalent prisons in the English estate? I will start with Ms Davies, please.”

“Interesting. Do you think there is an identifiable reason for what you have just said?”

“That is really interesting; thank you. I just want to look at the women’s offender population and women’s prisons. How does the performance of Eastwood Park and Styal, so the prisons in England where the majority of Welsh women offenders end up, compare with the rest of the women’s estate? I will start with Mr Taylor.”

“Thank you very much. The final part of this question is to Ms Davies. To what extent do the findings of the Welsh IMBs align with the findings produced by HMIP and, if there is a disparity, what might be the explanation for that?”

“Thank you all for coming today. What are the most significant challenges facing staff working in the Prison and Probation Service in Wales? I will start with Hugh McDyer.”

“You touched on some of the differences between Wales and England. Are there more areas where those challenges differ?”

“5. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the performance of rail services operating from north Wales.”

“Rail plays a vital role in the north Wales economy, so I welcome the recent announcement of 12 additional services per week between Holyhead and London. However, that remains a shadow of the pre-covid timetable, which saw up to 14 daily direct services. The north Wales line regularly sees more cancellations and poorer …”

“This is to both of you. I would be interested in what your experience is of prospective investors and whether they find it difficult to navigate the different layers of government in the UK—national, devolved, local, and maybe also all the different growth agencies, investment zones and that kind of thing that is going…”

“If you could have one wish on how this interaction between the different levels could be improved, what would that be?”

“Your wish, Mark?”

“Almost following on from that, you have spoken about how you have to be honest about what you are good at and promote that. I am thinking in a sector, but cross-region, if you have a specific cluster in your area that you are expert at, there might be something in Wales, for example—relating to Manchester or Scotland—t…”

“In recent months, we have seen massive changes on a global economic scale—turmoil, you might want to call it. It was interesting that you mentioned the US briefly before. With things such as tariffs and the conflicts going on, and trade deals that we are doing, but other countries are doing as well, there are lots of c…”

“That is very interesting. Thank you very much.”